After years of litigation, campaigning and negotiation, Uber has reached a deal with a powerful Australian union that will give 100,000 food delivery drivers and workers more protection.
The Transport Workers Union – one of Uber’s most vocal critics – reached an agreement with the ride-sharing giant late Tuesday, with both sides supporting minimum standards for all gig economy workers and the right to unionise.
In a joint statement, Uber and the union said they also support the Australian government’s creation of an independent body to set standards across the sector.
The “gig economy” — which uses temporary, independent contractors for short-term tasks — has grown rapidly since the launch of Uber in 2009 and is promoted as a flexible way for people to make money without the constraints of a full-time job.
However, there has been increasing backlash in Australia over the conditions and dangers faced by gig workers, particularly following a spate of delivery driver deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic, as demand surged.
A 2020 Transport Workers Union survey found that 73 per cent of food delivery drivers were worried “of being seriously injured or killed on the job” – although safety concerns aren’t limited to Australia or Uber.
In the United States, more than 50 drivers working for companies like Uber and Lyft have been killed at work since 2017, according to advocacy group Gig Workers Rising.
An Australian court ruled last week that murdered gig worker Xiaojun Chen, who was killed on the job in 2020 while working for food delivery service Hungry Panda, was an employee and not a contractor.
His family received an A$830,000 ($573,000) compensation payment, believed to be the first of its kind for a gig worker in Australia.
Uber’s general manager in Australia, Dom Taylor, acknowledged that the company and the union “may not seem like obvious allies” but the agreement between the two would “enhance worker protections”.
“We want to create a level playing field for the industry and maintain the flexibility that gig workers value most,” he said.
The deal comes after the election of a centre-left Labor government in Australia in May, which previously backed reforms to protect gig workers.
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